Google’s featured snippets is a welcome benefit (and content optimization opportunity) for site owners on a budget.
Featured snippets appear from a completely organic process as a result of spider crawls. The content snippet displays when a query is entered in the search field in the browser window.
The reason that budget-minded site owners can be thankful is that featured snippets provide a way to show site content as a top result, completely for free. (Sponsored content still shows above featured snippets, however.)
Google doesn’t sell space for featured snippets, and they aren’t advertisements. That means any site’s content can potentially be featured as a snippet.
How to Use Google Snippets to Get Your Content Featured for Free
While it’s true that any site’s content can turn up as a featured snippet, there are some things that have to happen first.
Site owners can help the process by carefully adhering to Google’s guidelines for snippets.
In the meantime, here are some shortcuts you can take today to get your content featured for free with Google snippets.
1. Provide In-Depth Answers to Popular Questions
Google is in the business of adding value for internet users. That said, their crawlers will find the best answers to the questions users are asking, and feature those answers in snippets.
If your site can provide in-depth answers to popular questions in your niche, there’s a good chance you’ll make it into a featured snippet.
2. Find Out What People are Asking in Your Niche
So how do you find out what the most popular questions are in your niche? Most questions that appear in snippets start with the keywords:
- How to
- How does
- How do
- Where is
- What is
- Why do
- Why does
Type in any of these keywords, and then think of a question someone might ask in your niche.
For example, if you’re in the window replacement business, you might type, “What is the cost of replacement windows?”
As you type, other popular questions will start to fill in. Make a list of the questions, and use the list to plan your content.
3. Write Content That Answers Those Questions
Next, you need to write the type of quality content that will answer those questions you collected. You can do this in a number of ways.
You can create an FAQ page, integrate the answers into existing pages, or build a blog section on your site that addresses each question in subsequent posts.
4. Make Sure Your Question and Answer is Formatted for SEO
The next thing that has to happen to get your content featured for free with Google snippets is that their crawler has to find you.
You can aid in this process by making sure you follow SEO guidelines. This SEO WordPress plugin makes optimization a breeze.
Google’s featured snippets is free, so there’s no reason why site owners shouldn’t use it to full advantage. These helpful tips will give you the best odds for getting your content front and center.
Kathleen S is a talented freelance writer located in Ohio who specializes in real estate.
With over 25 years of experience, Kathleen is one of thousands of professional freelance writers who provide a solution to business owners content bottlenecks.
